Rubber heel



Aug. 3o,A 1927. 1,640,354 f J'. B. HADAWAY A lRUBlesER'HEEL Filed July 12. 192s Patented Aug. 30, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J'OHNI-B. HADAWAY, 0F SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

RUBBER HEEL.

Application filed July 12,

'1`his invention relates to rubber heels, and

particularly to that type of rubber heel in which is embodied stitfening or supporting means for assisting in the production and maintenance of a tight edge joint between the rubber heel and the base to Which it is attached, and for supporting the rubber against inward-yielding under the pressure of the heel trimming machine guard when the heel base is being trimmed. My prior vapplications Ser. No. 550,165 filed April 6. 1922, and Ser. No. 607,077, filed December 15, 1922, disclose ,and claim certain improvements in heels of the type above mentioned, and the present invention is in the nature of an improvement upon, and in certain respects a simplification of, the `inventions disclosed in said applications.

The object of the invention is principally to provide an improved stifeningelement for rubber heels which shall be cheap to manufacture, simple in construction, and so balanced that it is easily controlled in the heel manufacturing process, its use resulting in the production of more uniformly accurate and perfect heels than in the past.

It is important that such a stiifening element shall extend Well out into the breast corners of the heel and that one or moreusually at least two-of the heel attaching nails shall pass through it. Heretofore such stitfening elements have been so designed that when they were placed upon the Washer pins in the mold in which the rubber heel is manufactured they were unbalanced and tended to tilt out of their proper planes. This tendency to tilt was aggravated when the rubber biscuit Was placed in the mold and pressure applied, with the result that the stiifening element might be so seriousl displaced as to impair its efficiency an sometimes even to spoil the heel. I

This difficulty is overcome by a feature of the present invention which consists in a balanced rubber heel stiening elementin the form of a parallelogram of such shape that it can be sheared from a strip of sheet stock without any waste of material. As herein illustrated the element is in the form of a rhomboid and is so located in the heel that one of its acute corners extends well out into the breast corner of the heel. Elements of this form can be sheared from a strip of sheet stock of suitable width and in 1923. Serial N0..651,126.

the manufacturing operation is most simple and economical.

In order to secure the desired balance and location of the stiffening element in the heel the nail openings in the element may be located in a line which is inclined toward the short diagonal of the parallel'ogram from its median longitudinal axis and divides both the area and mass 'of the element into approximately equal parts, the'openings being on opposite sides of said axis and one of the openings preferably being elongated to provide for different nail spacings.

The novel features and advantages of the invention Will best be understood and appreciated from reading the following description of one practical embodiment thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of the'tread face of the heel embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section' on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the stitfening and supporting memberv or element.

In the dra-Wings, indicates a cushion heel which may be made of rubber or equivalent resilient material and will be referred to herein as a rubber heel. Embedded in the heel 10, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 are stifening and supporting members 12 Which are preferably made of sheet steel.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4 the element 12 is in the form of a rhomboid and is provided with nail openings. 14, 16 and an approximately central, larger opening 18. In order to provide for the different nail spacings required -for different heels the opening 14 is elongated to form a slot While the opening 16 is a round hole of the proper size to tit easily over one of the mold pins in the rubber heel mold in which the heel is manufactured. The location of the hole 16 determines the longitudinal position of the member 12 in the heel mold while the slot 14, engaging the second pin in the mold, determines its angular position.

The openings 14 are dis osed in a line 20-22 which is inclined wit respect to the longitudinal, median axis 24-26 of the rhomboid in the directipn of the short di- Fig. 1, this results in the acute corners of the member 12 projecting well out into the breast corners of the heel, which is highly desirable, since it is these portions of the heel which require the maximum amount ofsti'ening and support.

n The line -22, joining the nail o penings 111-16, is so located that there are approximately equal amounts'of the mass and surface area of the element 12 on opposite sides of the said line. Therefore, when the element is placed upon the moldI pins, it is supported in a substantially balanced condition, and has no inherent 'tendency to tilt out of a horizontal plane. When the rubber biscuit is'placed inthe mold and pressure applied the pressure is also substantially equal .on opposite sides of the line 20-22, joining the said points of support, and there 1s no substantial tendency for the member y 12 to be displaced by the pressure of the rubber. Furthermore, when the heel attaching nails are driven the resistance of the rubber to the downward forceof the nails exerted through the element 12 in drawing the heel down tightly is also balanced, and there is no tendency for the element to tip or tilt in either direction.

Inasmuch as the opposite edges of the element 12 are straight and parallel it can be manufactured very simply and cheaply by shearing vparallelogram shaped blanks from the end of a strip of sheet steel of suitable width and indeterminate length.,

The heel 10 herein shown has a regular pattern ofvnailing indications, some of which are provided with washers 28 and others of whichare spots 30, the surface of which is suitably brokento obscure any defacement of the surface ofthe heel which might otherwise be apparent after driving nails therethrough. The washers 28 are at the locations where the rubber heel attaching nails are to be driven and the spots 30 are at the locations where the base attaching nails are to be driven through the heel, as

described and claimed in my prior application, Serial No. 487,314, filed July 25, 1921. In the `illustratedheel two of the spots 30 overlie the respective members 12,

and the openings 18 are made sufficientlyl large so that the base attaching nails driven at these locations may readily pass' throu h the said openings withoutengaging tie' stiffening elements. While, as above stated, itis preferred that 'the elementsl 12 be made of steel,"'any other metal or material havin suitable characteristics may be employe and it should be understood that such equivalents are within the scope. of theinvention, as is the use of any suitable resilient material for the body A respect to which the mass of the element is substantially balanced.

' 2. A rhomboidal stiil'ening or supportingl element for 'rubber heels having a plurality of nail openings disposed in a line with respect to which the surface area of the element is substantially balanced. v

3. A stifening or supporting element for rubber heels having the shape of a parallelogram and provided with a pluralityof nail openings disposed in a line inclined from the longitudinal median axis of the parallelogram in the direction 4 of the short diagonal thereof.

4L. A stifle-ning or "supporting element -forI rubber heels having the shape of a parallelogram and provided with a nail hole at one Side of the longitudinal median axis of the parallelogram, and a nail receiving slot 'at the other side of said axis.

n testimony whereof I have signed' my name to this specification.

JOHN B. HADAWY. 

